Most owners don't lock their smartphones

A survey — performed by NQ Mobile, a provider of mobile services — indicates that nearly one-third of smartphone owners who have had them stolen don’t lock down their next one.

The survey provides insight into how people treat their phones and the data on them. More than 25% of respondents reported that they’d either lost a smartphone or had one stolen from them. 40% of those stolen or lost phones were not passcode protected. Younger users are more likely to have their mobile devices protected that older users.

Of those that have lost — through one means or another — a smartphone, only 69% passcode protect their new device. That means 31% didn’t learn their lesson the first time and are vulnerable to data loss and other problems should the new phone be stolen.

The thing most people fear losing in their phones is their list of contacts. That was ahead of having a thief have access to their email, social media and other communications as well as seeing their private photos and other information shared with the public.